Clear stand on Huawei 5G gear, telcos urge government

The concerns have arisen because of DoT’s apparent ambiguity over allowing Huawei to participate in 5G trials.ET Bureau | Updated: March 21, 2019, 09:13 IST

India’s telcos called upon the government to clarify its stance on whether operators should order 5G equipment from Chinese company Huawei or not, saying they can’t afford to take a risk with millions of dollars at stake.

“We are at a loss as to what to do as an operator — should we order Huawei equipment or should we not? It (the risk) cannot be taken by operators,” Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta said at the third ET Telecom India MobileConclaveon Tuesday. “I request the government of India to make it clear as soon as possible.”

Bharti Enterprises is the holding company of Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest phone company.

Gupta, also chairman of tower operator Bharti Infratel, said the industry understands that the Chinese firm is at the “cutting edge of 5G” technology but said “we can’t take a risk” as telcos will need to invest heavily in 5G equipment.

India’s phone companies are hesitant, said Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Ambiguity Over Allowing Huawei

“If there are perceived security issues, the government should inform operators so that they are not stuck with the risk because today if they invest using Huawei products, then six months down the line, they do not want to be in a position where government requires them to remove the equipment,” Mathews said.COAI represents India’s non-state telcos — market leader Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and late entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm. Of the three, Jio uses 4G equipment from South Korea’s Samsung while Vodafone Idea and Airtel use Huawei’s 4G gear in several circles. Contracts for 5G equipment have not yet been awarded.

“Any move to retrospectively ban 5G equipment could not only be seriously disruptive to operators but also to customers who may face disruptions to their service,” Mathews said, adding telcos have also written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The concerns have arisen because of DoT’s apparent ambiguity over allowing Huawei to participate in 5G trials.

The Chinese company was first excluded by DoT, then added to the list of those that could participate in the trials. But in late February, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the government was yet to take a decision on whether to allow Chinese gear makers to take part as it was examining security-related issues on the back of fears raised by various countries.

Chinese equipment makers, mainly Huawei, have come under global scrutiny after the US raised security concerns regarding 5G equipment, given the former’s perceived proximity to the Chinese government. The US has asked its allies to ban 5G gear from Huawei. Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia have acquiesced.

Huawei India CEO Jay Chen rejected the allegations, saying there was no proof to back up them up.

“No matter the country in question, be it New Zealand, Australia or Germany, no one has found any solid evidence,” he said at the same event.

He said the company has testing facilities in the UK, Canada, Germany and Belgium, all of which are open to security checks by government officials, customers, technical experts and the media. “This is a good opportunity for Huawei to make security as its core competence, as important as innovation,” he said. “For example, the test centre in the UK is monitored by the UK agencies. Global government agencies, customers, media stakeholders can go to the UK centre and… audits have not found anything wrong.”

Indian operators have been trying to gather more information about security aspects related to Chinese 5G equipment.

At the conclave on Tuesday, Sundararajan highlighted how security was crucial as telecom adapts to the digital age.

“India needs to develop core capabilities in ICT (information and communications technology) because India is the second-largest country in world and also because digital sector is now increasingly becoming strategic sector for any country,” she said. “So, security and resilience of networks and trust in networks will be paramount.”